U.S. Embassy In Zimbabwe Deletes Tweet Praising Robert Mugabe

The United States Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe deleted a tweet praising deceased former dictator Robert Mugabe on Saturday.

“The United States extends its condolences to the Mugabe family and the people of Zimbabwe as they mourn the passing of former President Robert Mugabe,” read the now-deleted tweet. “We join the world in reflecting on his legacy in securing Zimbabwe’s independence.”

The tweet’s removal comes after a Friday night “Tucker Carlson Tonight” segment during which Fox News host Tucker Carlson criticized a “completely out of control” executive branch “run by bureaucrats who don’t care at all who was elected” and called for the U.S. ambassador to the country, Brian Nichols, to be recalled.

Carlson then commented on Mugabe’s murderous legacy:

The only words in response to his death would be good riddance. He wrecked that country. He took control of one of the richest countries in southern Africa and reduced it to starvation. He made its currency as valuable as wallpaper. He literally committed genocide against an ethic group almost as soon as he was elected in 1980. Roberts Mugabe didn’t liberate his nation, he destroyed it, and only the U.S. State Department doesn’t understand that. Somebody ought to get to the bottom of who sent those tweets out.

The embassy account did leave a retweet of a post by diplomat Tibor Nagy acknowledging a legacy “tarnished by human rights abuses & poor governance.”

Today we note the death of Robert Mugabe. While he led Zimbabwe to independence, his legacy was tarnished by human rights abuses & poor governance. We stand w/ the people of Zimbabwe in the hope of a free, more prosperous Zimbabwe led by a government accountable to its citizens. pic.twitter.com/2oSlE40dJG